Rookie and veteran fire fighters honoured at ceremony

Kingston Fire and Rescue held their annual service awards and fire fighter graduation at City Hall.

It was a night to honour long-standing fire fighters and welcome in the rookies.

7 new recruits and 13 veterans were honoured at the Kingston Fire and Rescue Service Awards on Thursday.

Family and friends joined in for the occasion inside Memorial Hall at Kingston City Hall.

There was the presentation of the provincial and federal long service awards.

9 fire fighters received their 20-year federal award:

• David Batsford
• Leonard Devos
• Richard Edworthy
• Michael Frasso
• William Lemmon
• Matthew Mulvihill
• Chris Nicholson
• George Parent
• Scott Spencer

2 more received their 25-year provincial award:

• Dave Lawson
• Daniel Tourond

Jeff Anglin received a 30-year service award on both the provincial and federal level, and Paul Nolan was honoured for 40 years of service also on both levels.

Deputy Fire Cheif Kevin Donaldson says the number of people that got their long service awards shows how committed they are at their job.

The night also served as a graduation ceremony for the 7 new fire fighters who someday will join the ranks of their predecessors.

They are: Eric Boland, James Bouvier, Leslie Feeny, Kenton Greenwood, Reed Kekewich, Sam Mulvihill, and Cameron Sharp.

Donaldson says it is great to see how many people are willing to go help the community in times of need.

Donaldson says the members of the Kingston Fire and Rescue are a family like no other.

He says they put their lives on the line to protect the community and often be there for each other

Story by Ken Hashizume